Vahe's Streets : Neo-nomads of the Imperial Valley, California

I have not been a fan of microphotography, although I have experimented with a few micro lenses back in the 1990s. In addition to the special equipment, microphotography requires planning, patience, and countless shots to get a good one.

I am more of an impulsive and spontaneous photographer, although over the years I have come to anticipate certain moments and be ready for that famous “critical moment” to click.

But, there are still surprises.

Recently I drove from Arizona to California, passing by the Imperial Valley desert. It is a drive I like as the scenery changes constantly, especially when there is a sand storm as it was the case during my trip. Starting at around 6000 feet mountain altitude in Arizona, one ends below sea level in the Imperial Valley. In fact, the geographic area of the Imperial Valley covers 50 miles from the southern end of the Salton Sea into Mexico. As such, it is 235 feet below the edge of the Salton Sea. So the pristine and cool air of the Arizona high desert changes within a few hours of driving into extremely hot, and the green plateau into barren mountains. There is no population presence one can see, until El Centro which is the largest city in the area with about 165,000 populations.

For me the attraction is the Imperial Valley Dunes area where the sand dunes are very similar to the Sub-Saharan desert. The change from barren mountains and rocky land to the fine sand and shifting dunes is very dramatic.

So, I stopped at the top of the Dunes recreation area to stretch my legs. In the almost monochromatic context of the dunes I noticed three black dots perhaps half a mile away. I grabbed my Nikon F3 with my trusted 1970’s Vivitar Series One 70-210mm zoom lens. Now I could see three humans walking up the dunes.

I took a few photos without knowing what I was looking at. I set the speed to 1/100 second and the lens closed down to f22. It was my way of thinking about microphotography – to discover what the scene was all about only after enlarging parts of the negative.

And here is what happened.

This is the actual proportion shown through the 180mm lens. When looking with my barren eyes, the three people were just dots.

An extreme enlargement starts uncovering a mystery. Who are the two people wearing what seems to be scuba diving gear? In the desert at 105 degree Fahrenheit? Who was the third person? Was it a male or female? What was in his/her hands?

Here is another shot. The footprints they made were deep and clearly delineated. As they were moving quite fast, I wonder if they wore some sort of “snowshoe”. Sandshoe?